11.   It is taking five planes out of service to reduce personnel costs.

12.   Much of that increase will be for personnel costs, including pay increases and improved pension and health care benefits.

13.   Of course, this could mean investing millions of dollars in new customer service technologies as well as in personnel costs.

14.   Personal space is shrinking as companies try to cut real estate costs, usually the second-largest corporate expense after personnel costs.

15.   Others would try to reduce personnel costs.

16.   Small business, which generally opposes any significant change because its personnel costs are now heavily subsidized by everyone else, was free to wail about impending economic disaster.

17.   Still, personnel costs are rising because of wage agreements.

18.   That has meant, in effect, lifetime job guarantees for workers and no real competitive bidding among companies, because no company could escape the fixed personnel costs.

19.   That means the largest cuts would have to come from other departments in which personnel costs make up smaller parts of the budget, like the Department of Transportation.

20.   The appropriations bill finances new weapons, military operations and Pentagon personnel costs for the coming year.